Egypt discusses standards of draft constitution

The Egyptian parliament on Monday will discuss the standards on which a constituent assembly to draft a new constitution will be based. The session will consider a report by the The People's Assembly's (PA) Constitutional and Legislative Committee, which is dedicated to the election of members to form a truly representative assembly and aims to avoid the problems that marred the first. It is expected that parliament will approve the recommendations, in principle, and then forward the report on to the Legislative Committee to prepare its final form. Then it will be submitted again to the parliament in another session for endorsement and approval. The political forces finally agreed on the formation standards of the Constituent Assembly and submitted it to the ruling military council during a meeting yesterday. Saad Katatni, who heads parliament, has invited the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) to a joint meeting tomorrow between both the parliament and Shura Council (Consultative Council), to choose the members of the constitution panel. Some parties in the Egyptian bloc, including the Free Egyptians Party, the Egyptian Social Democratic party and al-Tagammu (National progressive unionist) party, have also decided to hold a meeting on Monday at the al-Tagammu party headquarters to determine whether they will take part in the Constituent Assembly. Despite attempts at compatibility, consultations with political forces regarding the Constituent Assembly have  failed to yield any success. Four parties have issued a joint statement rejecting what it described as the "politicisation" and "classification" of the institutions of the state - especially Al-Azhar, the Church, the judiciary and  ministries - in a way that makes political Islam dominate. The parties explained that Islamists represented 50 percent of parliament, while the percentage allocated to the state institutions, Al-Azhar, the Church and the judicial bodies, stood at 21 percent. The parties hoped the share of state institutions would be calculated out of the division between the democratic groups and the Islamist groups, as they constitute about 21 percent of the Constituent Assembly.  But the proposal was rejected to reconsider the position of Construction and Development and Al-Wasat. On Sunday the civil political forces agreed on the names that will represent them in the Constituent Assembly to draw up a constitution. The vice President of the Al-Wasat Party, Essam Sultan, confirmed that a list of candidates who will eventually form the Assembly were agreed upon, and that it was officially sent to the Egyptian parliament.